Sergi Samper

khaled_a_d said:

Hmmm,I respect your opinion but there is really nothing to suggest that,he was one of the worse players in Baca B that got relegated that season,benched the month of April and initially it actually made Barca B midfield better. Samper was more ready for promotion 3 years ago than he was two years ago. The fact that he regressed in his 2nd season there means he wasn't by any mean ready to be in 1st team

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Fair enough you disagree with the promotion thing, but that part is just wrong. He was very dominating the first half season with Grimaldo next to him in midfield. I watched those games and can clearly remember it. He also topped it off with a good pre-season and a great first team debut which was in the UCL agains APOEL. Although Eusebio for God knows whatever reason benched him for Gumbau in 2-3 weeks in a row (and then got fired), he, Grimaldo and Adama were by far the only players on that team who lifted them when things went well and who were among the best when it went worst. The only reason he stayed the next season was not of merit, but because Segura and Lopez thought he was needed to help them promote back in to Segunda A.

navidjaan said:

Fair enough you disagree with the promotion thing, but that part is just wrong. He was very dominating the first half season with Grimaldo next to him in midfield. I watched those games and can clearly remember it. He also topped it off with a good pre-season and a great first team debut which was in the UCL agains APOEL. Although Eusebio for God knows whatever reason benched him for Gumbau in 2-3 weeks in a row (and then got fired), he, Grimaldo and Adama were by far the only players on that team who lifted them when things went well and who were among the best when it went worst. The only reason he stayed the next season was not of merit, but because Segura and Lopez thought he was needed to help them promote back in to Segunda A.

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He was benched again that season by Vinyals in April and it wasn't a coincidence,would rate Grimaldo over both btw.
You can point to worse players but when it come to expectations and the role they should play I would say Samper was a big disappointment through the season,ok he had a good start and that was when he was called for 1st team, but he really regressed out there. to be benched for Patrick and Gumbau by two coaches (one who have just won UEFA youth CL,other was just coming from finishing 3rd in Segunda with reserve team) that was alarming to say at least.
Samper was expected to be a leading player in that team,he wasn't and many times looked like he isn't ready to take the next step and was hiding in the game,he showed his defensive weakness and it was worrisome.
Playing in 1st team while not ready can harm player career. Fans love La Masia but they have high expectations and no patience. I think if he was promoted in 2015 he was probably gonna be sold out next summer and fans would still blame the board.
Also I don't think with his limitations he is perfect for 1st team
This was a good article about Samper situation (I think you worki in this site too!?)
https://grup14.com/article/the-challenges-that-la-masia-players-must-overcome-to-reach-the-top

With his style of play,and more important limitation he needed to improve b4 moving to 1st team here. What I don't like about him is he was unable to adapt in Granada. He isn't perfect for Barca System and he himself will need to adapt even if it is in different ways.

God Serena said:

I'd say that relegation year was more just a season of poor form than total regression. In the following season he was great for Barca B and was great for us when Lucho called him up. Loaning him out was never a good decision and in pre-season he was playing well enough to stay.

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My point is,would you promote player in poor form? Yeah he was gr8 last year and that is a reason I believe it was the right decision to keep him with Barca B,he got his form back but also showed improvements as a leader in the team and started to take more duties with them.
My point is sometimes taking a step back is the best way to move forward. Samper for sure wasn't ready for a move like 1st team in 2015. Can understand -even if I disagree- an argument about him being loaned that year or getting promoted last summer. But to say he was ready for promotion in 2015 is stretching it,at least for me.

Richard.H said:

I really don't like how Samper has been treated. His passing game is still decent enough to at least be a backup to Busi or Raki. Can probably provide the same output as Gomes did this season.

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You can argue that anyone would have same output for Gomes that season considering how bad he was.
But I doubt Samper can do lot of work as Busi back up, he doesn't cover well in front of the penalty area and we are already struggling in that aspect. Raki? may be although totally different players and role.


All in all I like Samper passing,he has gr8 vision and passing ability,but he need more than that.He need to improve his off the ball movement which is essential for Barca player,he also need to either improve his defense to be DM or his ability to dictate the tempo of the game and control of the midfield to be CM. And above all he need to show more character. Alena is showing that and he is 3 years younger
It is achievable,but I am not optimistic

I don't know how Alena is showing more character that him, but whenever I samper play for the first team, he looked good.

Every players as weaknesses in there game at his age, it's a matter of seeing the potential, and having the patience to develop it, while weeding out the weaknesses.

The issue with barca b back then and Barca in general these days is that's too much about the end product and not enough about the process.

It's kinda like that saying, "possession isn't a means not a end, but a means to defend."

Under our current leadership, the process as been thrown out the window in a effort to just win win win, and a certain segment of the Barcelona fan base won't realize this, until it's too late, which it kinda is right now.

khaled_a_d said:

Man,this Granada team has 16 out of 25 players on their squads are loaned from other clubs,if Adams decided to bench players who aren't "even part of the club" he won't have enough players to make starting 11. Many of them are as old or younger than Samper.
And a coach who is fighting relegation will play the best players he has and try to win because there is no tomorrow,loan or not,young or old it won't matter.
The fact that Samper was many times wasn't favored to be a starter their is worrisome no matter how you go around it.
At this point if we bought a new CM & RB I might be against Samper return and will move S.Roberto to become Busquets back up.

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When Adams take over they were pretty much already relegated so he started to play more players that are in their property and will either stay with them and play in Segunda next year or who they can sell in summer to get some money.

khaled_a_d said:

My point is,would you promote player in poor form? Yeah he was gr8 last year and that is a reason I believe it was the right decision to keep him with Barca B,he got his form back but also showed improvements as a leader in the team and started to take more duties with them.
My point is sometimes taking a step back is the best way to move forward. Samper for sure wasn't ready for a move like 1st team in 2015. Can understand -even if I disagree- an argument about him being loaned that year or getting promoted last summer. But to say he was ready for promotion in 2015 is stretching it,at least for me.

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What I'm saying is that he should have never been sent on loan, not that he should have been promoted in 2015. He was playing very well last season and checked all the boxes for a player ready for promotion, but Lucho decided to loan him and insisted on signing Gomes.

God Serena said:

What I'm saying is that he should have never been sent on loan, not that he should have been promoted in 2015. He was playing very well last season and checked all the boxes for a player ready for promotion, but Lucho decided to loan him and insisted on signing Gomes.

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While I disagree with this I respect it and understand where it is coming from, that is why my whole comment/discussion about being ready for promotion 2 years ago.
PS: tbf I think the temptation of being coached by Paco and becoming La Liga starter with a coach who has Barca style was too much to pass on. Many clubs had made that mistake too. If he wasn't fired way too early Samper season could have been a lot different.

Messi983 said:

When Adams take over they were pretty much already relegated so he started to play more players that are in their property and will either stay with them and play in Segunda next year or who they can sell in summer to get some money.

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The whole squad is built on loaned player man,only 9 is owned by the club.
A quick look in transfermarket,from those 9 Rui Silva ,for Omer Atzili , Lomban who has has combined 90 minutes in 4 games under Adams. All in one game played by Lomban
6 players were starters before and after Adams,one of them is Cuenca who is free agent in summer others are Mehdi González,Matthieu Saunier,Dimitri Foulquier,Sverrir Ingi Ingason,Rene Krhin although many of them struggled with injuries.
Only player owned by Granada and had more playing time under is Martin Hongla who was promoted earlier in 2017
I am sorry,but I don't see it. If the rumors there is a clause for number of games in his contract then I can get it. But the whole he decided to play his own players doesn't make sense for me.

I see now that people are posting how he played well for the first team.
Apart from a game against Apoel and one preseason match in Usa (he was poor in other two matches), he was usually poor and disappointed.

After matches where he played, people used to write:
1. He is a horrible Cdm and we need to try him at Cm
2. He has poor defending and strange movement
3. He is clumsy all the time
4. He is physically weak and he is losing majority of duels
5. He plays way too many longballs for our style (Pirloesque)
6. Also, there will always remain a question of him being the most scared player in the current Barca's team, how he is mentally fragile, easily crumbles under pressure and has a hard time to adapting

Revisionism kicked in people's minds again and majority of these posts are quite different than how Samper actually performed in the last 3 years.

I know that people have a soft spot on him since he is a La masia symbol, but he has tons of obstacles infront of him:
1. He is not a good fit either for a cdm and cm in our system
2. He has poor defending
3. Extremely clumsy
4. Long balls
5. And the thoughest thing to improve: his natural fragile mental strength/bravery

Also guys, from a recent history, remember that when a player isn't a first pick by too many coaches in a row, feel free to turn on a major red alarm regarding that player's future (Bartra, Halilovic and Deulofeu had similar problems under way too many coaches, even though Barcaforum had a different view on those players. It was always someone else's fault, and not a player's fault. Remember it: loans, that team doesn't suit him, that coach isn't good in developing young players, he needs more playing time, Lucho is blind etc)

Of all those 6 postulates, only 2 of them are true, and he radically improved both during his time at Barça B and his first team debut compared to his last competitive first team game (away vs Leverkusen in the UCL where he had the highest amount of interceptions).

And how in God's name can anyone watch him play and say he's "extremely clumsy"? That's just funny.

We don't give youngsters enough time, generally. He has talent and deserves an opportunity here.

Cope is saying Samper will be with the first team next season. They say he'll be the only one brought back from loan, so that kind of sucks for Munir, but I'll be glad to get Samper back at least.

God Serena said:

Cope is saying Samper will be with the first team next season. They say he'll be the only one brought back from loan, so that kind of sucks for Munir, but I'll be glad to get Samper back at least.

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Haha you love these stories and I love to say..... cant see it be surprised to see he him last past summer tour.

JamDav1982 said:

Haha you love these stories and I love to say..... cant see it be surprised to see he him last past summer tour.

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It all depends on our manager. With the midfield we have this season Samper is easily good enough to at least be a backup, and from there he can only improve.

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I really am excited to see how he does in pre-season, and if he manages to convince Valverde he's worth keeping around. It's a shame players like Gomes and Arda won't have to prove themselves the same way.